A relatively small metropolis in Germany’s Free State of Saxony – a dynamic hub for the life science industry? What was just a vision 20 years ago has become a reality for the city of Leipzig, which from October 24-26 co-hosted BIO-Europe, Europe’s largest annual biotech partnering event. “Our mission has always been to showcase different biotech clusters and shine a light on some of the hidden gems in Europe,” explains Anna Chrisman, Managing Director Pharma and Life Sciences at Informa Connect. “We are grateful to the State of Saxony, the City of Leipzig, and biosaxony for being this year’s regional hosts.”
As a historic trade fair site, Leipzig did what it has always excelled at: To provide a welcoming venue for experts from around the world to meet in person. “This was our first face-to-face BIO-Europe in three years and the outcome surpassed our expectations,” Chrisman says. “Attendance and the amount of partnering meetings exceeded 2019 levels, making this the largest BIO-Europe to date.” In total, more than 5,000 guests from 66 countries flocked to Leipzig and around 25,000 partnering meetings were scheduled.
Because all offerings were under one roof, attendees found it easy to combine partnering meetings with more informal networking during coffee and lunch breaks. Visitors not only benefitted from a wide choice of workshops, expert panels, company presentations and on-site tours. Up to 2,000 guests also enjoyed exclusive evening receptions in stunning venues like the Leipziger Gewandhaus and the Kongresshalle am Zoo. After the in-person BIO-Europe event, virtual partnering was still available to all attendees from November 2-4.
Leipzig’s mayor Clemens Schülke concludes: “This year’s BIO-Europe has helped Leipzig not only position itself as an international conference location, but has also helped it make the leap into the Champions League of life science locations in Europe.” What makes Leipzig appealing to the industry is not just its comprehensive life science ecosystem with R&D expertise and supportive funding programs, but the fact that the city offers room to grow. “For the first time, Leipzig was able to highlight its BioCity Campus during the event, and to present new building projects and lab spaces together with private investors,” Schülke explains.
“BIO-Europe’s return to Saxony after 17 years has clearly demonstrated how far we all have come,” says biosaxony CEO André Hofmann. “The event has tripled in size, while Saxony and Leipzig have turned into a life science powerhouse that can compete internationally.” One thing seems sure: Both the life science industry and BIO-Europe can rely on this region going forward. Because, as Hofmann says: “The Free State of Saxony laid the foundation for this 22 years ago – and we will continue to support proactive partners here!”